Blind Faith Debut EP: "I've Waited"

It is good, so soon after reviewing a live Blind Faith performance when I saw them collaborating with Chalk Drawings at APE Promotions' "Surreal Deal" at the Zephyr Lounge, to be a position to review their forthcoming debut EP, "I've Waited"

This band is in fact a duo: Faith Meades on vocals & John Garrett on keyboards:  I imagine they are used to enquiries about Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood & co, but since the latter don't use the name anymore.....

Consisting of three original songs ("I've Waited", "Holly May" & "Stay") plus a cover of Sara Bareilles' 2004 track "Gravity", what strikes me straight away is how they play to their strengths: when you have a vocalist this talented & a pianist of this calibre, why muddy the water with too many extra elements of arrangements? Yes, the extra instruments of the Chalk Drawings gig brought out additional textures & I'm sure in the future they may well experiment effectively along these lines, but for now thank goodness they have had the confidence not to over produce & to set out their very considerable stall with clarity, focus & consequent impact. Only "Stay", which features additional (male) vocals and some tastefully light snare drumming departs from the essential template of voice & piano. As a statement of intent & calling card for a career it works extremely well.

The songs are as beautifully written as they are performed with intelligent & evocative lyrics set to emotionally appropriate melodies. It's good to hear that the art of lyric writing is still alive & thriving in some quarters. Much as I do appreciate the impact of dance music on wider songwriting, I do sometimes roll my eyes when I hear good performers sing good songs but which are over dominated (in my opinion) by excessive repetition of hooks & which ultimately leave me wondering what the piece is about. No danger of that with Blind Faith: the words & intent are as clear and lucid as their delivery.

By sheer coincidence, as I was playing the EP for the first time, I was contacted by Neil Wilkes who hosts the Coventry Culture Show on Touch FM & I couldn't help but share the title track with him. His response? "Her voice is amazing. She needs to be out there! She's brilliant- so crisp!!". I think we can anticipate Blind Faith on the Coventry Culture Show after that endorsement... And I look forward to hearing this material live too.